Michigan emergency departments are better prepared to respond to disaster
2013-10-15
(Press-News.org) DETROIT – Emergency Departments across Michigan are better prepared to handle a disaster today than they were seven years ago, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.
The study found that 84 percent of emergency departments said they are more prepared to handle a terrorist attack or natural disaster than they were in 2005.
They've also enhanced their preparedness efforts by adding decontamination rooms, stockpiling antidotes for nerve gas and cyanide, and storing more respiratory protection supplies.
At the same time, emergency departments acknowledged they could benefit from more disaster training, more equipment, and better coordination with local and regional emergency agencies.
The findings are being presented Monday at the American College of Emergency Physicians' annual meeting in Seattle.
Howard Klausner, M.D., a Henry Ford emergency medicine physician and the study's senior author, says people should interpret the findings with perspective.
"Hospitals think they're prepared, and on paper it might appear to be the case. But unless you've been through a real event, you just don't know," says Dr. Klausner. "Every time there's something in the news, hospitals wonder if that's something that could happen in their area and how they would respond. Compared to other parts of the country, the chance of a natural disaster happening in Michigan is very unlikely. However, preparedness is still very important."
The retrospective study analyzed differences in emergency preparedness based on responses to a 31-question survey sent to all Michigan emergency departments in 2012 and 2005. In 2012, 99 of 136 emergency departments responded to the survey compared to 112 of 139 emergency departments in 2005.
Questions ranged from the number of patients requiring decontamination and availability of antidote kits for nerve gas and cyanide to skin protection types for staff and communication network participation.
###
The study was funded by Henry Ford Hospital and Michigan College of Emergency Physicians. END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Nanoscaled tip writes artificial cell membranes
2013-10-15
Researchers around Dr. Michael Hirtz from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Dr. Aravind Vijayaraghavan from the University of Manchester have developed a new method to produce artificial membranes: Using a nanoscaled tip, they write tailored patches of phospholipid membrane onto a graphene substrate. The resulting biomimetic membranes, i.e. membranes simulating biological structures, allow for the specific investigation of functions of cell membranes and the development of novel applications in medicine and biotechnology, such as biosensors. The method is now presented ...
AP-NORC survey: Working longer -- older Americans' attitudes on work and retirement
2013-10-15
Chicago, October 14, 2013—The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research has released the results of a major new survey exploring the views of older Americans about their plans for work and retirement. It provides in-depth information about a rapidly growing segment of the population that by choice or circumstance is working longer. The Great Recession has had a marked impact on retirement plans.
"The survey illuminates an important shift in Americans' attitudes toward work, aging, and retirement," said Trevor Tompson, director of the AP-NORC Center. "Retirement ...
World record: Wireless data transmission at 100 Gbit/s
2013-10-15
This news release is available in German. Extension of cable-based telecommunication networks requires high investments in both conurbations and rural areas. Broadband data transmission via radio relay links might help to cross rivers, motorways or nature protection areas at strategic node points, and to make network extension economically feasible. In the current issue of the nature photonics magazine, researchers present a method for wireless data transmission at a world-record rate of 100 gigabits per second. (doi: 10.1038/nphoton.2013.275)
In their record experiment, ...
Vanderbilt study finds age doesn't impact concussion symptoms
2013-10-15
Recent scientific findings have raised the fear that young athletes may fare worse after sustaining a sports-related concussion than older athletes.
Researchers in the Vanderbilt Sports Concussion Center compared symptoms associated with concussion in middle- and high-school aged athletes with those in college-age athletes and found no significant differences between the two age groups.
The study, "Does age affect symptom recovery after sports-related concussion? A study of high school and college athletes," was in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics.
Lead authors ...
Adult stem cells help build human blood vessels in engineered tissues
2013-10-15
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have identified a protein expressed by human bone marrow stem cells that guides and stimulates the formation of blood vessels.
Their findings, which could help improve the vascularization of engineered tissues, were reported online on October 12 in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology.
"Some stem cells actually have multiple jobs," says Dr. Jalees Rehman, associate professor of cardiology and pharmacology at the UIC College of Medicine and lead author of the paper. For example, stem cells in the bone marrow, ...
Happiness lowers blood pressure
2013-10-15
This news release is available in German. The endogenous hormone dopamine triggers feelings of happiness. While its release is induced, among other things, by the "feel-good" classics sex, drugs or food, the brain does not content itself with a kick; it remembers the state of happiness and keeps wanting to achieve it again. Dopamine enables us to make the "right" decisions in order to experience even more moments of happiness.
Biological components reconnected
Now a team of researchers headed by ETH-Zurich professor Martin Fussenegger from the Department of Biosystems ...
Stepping out in style: Toward an artificial leg with a natural gait
2013-10-15
Walking is tricky business, as any toddler knows. And while most artificial feet and limbs do a pretty good job restoring mobility to people who have lost a leg, they have a ways to go before they equal the intricacy of a natural gait. As a result, over half of all amputees take a fall every year, compared to about one-third of people over 65.
In cooperation with a Mayo Clinic scientist, researchers at Michigan Technological University are taking a giant step toward solving the problem. They are making a bionic foot that could make an amputee's walk in the park feel, ...
In Europe 3.5 million new fragility fractures occur annually, shows data published today
2013-10-15
Nyon, Switzerland (October 14, 2013) – A new report published today by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) warns that as a result of ageing populations and osteoporosis not being treated as a priority, health care providers will be faced with an avalanche of fractures and rising costs.
Approximately 22 million women and 5.5 million men in 27 member states of the European Union (EU27)*, have osteoporosis; the total burden is expected to increase to 33.9 million (increase of 23 per cent) by 2025.
The IOF report prepared in collaboration with the European ...
Mammalian body cells lack ancient viral defense mechanism, find UT scientists
2013-10-15
A team led by Chris Sullivan, a professor of molecular biosciences at The University of Texas at Austin, has provided the first positive evidence that RNA interference (RNAi), a biological process in which small RNA molecules prevent genes from being expressed, does not play a role as an antiviral in most body, or "somatic," cells in mammals.
Their research was published in Cell Host & Microbe.
RNAi plays an important antiviral role in plants and invertebrates, but it has long been disputed whether it plays a similar role in mammals. A better understanding of how RNAi ...
Urban soil quality and compost
2013-10-15
October 14, 2013—With higher populations and limited space, urban areas are not often thought of as places for agriculture. A recent surge in community gardens, though, is bringing agriculture and gardens into the cities. And certain byproducts of urban life – food and yard waste and municipal biosolids – can benefit those gardens, and the soils in them, tremendously.
Sally Brown, associate professor at University of Washington will discuss the use of compost and biosolids in urban agriculture on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 9:35 am. Her talk, Urban Soil Quality and Compost, is ...